This invention relates generally to the field of weapons and, more particularly, to improved sight apparatus for use with weapons such firearms and archery bows.
Weapons, such as firearms and archery bows, are commonly used for either hunting or target shooting. In this vein, archery is generally defined as a sport involving shooting arrows with a bow, either at inanimate targets or at game. To increase shooting distance, accuracy and comfort, skilled artisans have devised apparatus that may be attached to the bow such as stabilizers, torque flight compensators, counterweight rods and, for instance, lens-less bow sights.
Throughout much of the last decade, considerable attention has been directed toward increasing the efficiency and functionality of not only bow sights, but also sights used with firearms such as rifles, shotguns and handguns. To this end, skilled practitioners in the art have devised sights having fiber optics, light emitting elements, reflective lenses and, for instance, range finding apparatus. Although exemplary, these and other known sights significantly obstruct the user""s field of view toward proposed targets which often contributes to inaccurate aiming.
It would be highly advantageous, therefore, to remedy the foregoing and other deficiencies inherent in the prior art.
Accordingly, it would be highly desirable to provide new and improved sight apparatus for use with an archery bow or firearm for aiding a user to fire a projectile, such as an arrow or bullet, toward a target.
It is a purpose of the present invention to provide new and improved sight apparatus that is easy to use.
It is another purpose of the present invention to provide new and improved sight apparatus that maximizes a user""s field of view toward a desired target.
It is still another purpose of the present invention to provide new and improved sight apparatus that is easy to construct.
It is a further purpose of the present invention to provide new and improved sight apparatus that is inexpensive.
It is yet a further purpose of the present invention is to provide new and improved sight apparatus that is highly efficient.
It is still a further purpose of the present invention to provide new and improved sight apparatus that is highly durable and resistant to damage during normal use.
It is another purpose of the present invention to provide new and improved sight apparatus that provides automatic range and trajectory finding capabilities.
It is yet another purpose of the present invention to provide new and improved sight apparatus that provides automatic aiming capability.
It is still another provision of the present invention to enhance aiming accuracy.
The above problems and others are at least partially solved and the above purposes and others are realized in a sight for use with an archery bow for aiding an archer to fire an arrow toward a target. In a particular embodiment, the sight of the present invention may comprise a fixture carried by the bow, a crosshair carried by the fixture and having ends, and a plurality of sight elements immovably carried by the crosshair between the ends preferably in it substantially abutting relation. Although crosshair may be fixedly coupled with the fixture, crosshair is preferably detachably carried by the fixture to facilitate replacement as needed.
To this end, the present invention may further include an engagement assembly carried by the crosshair and a detachably engagable complemental engagement assembly carried by the fixture. In a particular embodiment, the engagement assembly may include a first T-body and a second T-body each carried proximate one of the ends of the crosshair. In this regard, the complemental engagement assembly may include first and second T-slots carried by the fixture and each for detachably receiving one of the first T-body and the second T-body of the engagement assembly.
Each of the plurality of sight elements may comprise a light emitting element. A power source carried by one of the fixture and the bow may also be provided and coupled with each of the light emitting elements for facilitating illumination of one or more of the light emitting elements as desired during normal use.
In another embodiment, the present invention may further include a carriage carried by the fixture and at least one sight pin engagable with the carriage. To detachably engage the sight pin with the carriage, the present invention may further include an engagement assembly carried by the carriage, and a detachably engagable complemental engagement assembly carried by the sight pin. In a specific embodiment, the engagement assembly carried by the carriage may comprise a detent engagement assembly, and the detachably engagable complemental engagement assembly carried by the sight pin may comprise a complemental detent engagement assembly.
In yet another embodiment, the present invention may still further include a sight pin assembly engagable with the fixture, the sight pin assembly including a carrier element and at least one sight pin carried by the carrier element. To engage the sight pin assembly with the fixture, the present invention may further include an engagement assembly carried by the sight pin assembly, and a detachably engagable complemental engagement assembly carried by the fixture. In a specific embodiment, the engagement assembly of the sight pin assembly may comprise includes a first T-body and a second T-body carried by the sight pin assembly, and the complemental engagement assembly of the fixture may comprise the first and second T-slots carried by the fixture and each for detachably receiving one of the first T-body and the second T-body of the sight pin assembly.
It accordance with yet still another exemplary embodiment, the present invention may still further include a range finder carried by the bow for estimating a range of a target spaced from the bow, and a controller responsive to the range finder for illuminating a selected one of the light emitting elements to correspond with the range.
Although the foregoing embodiments have been disclosed for use in combination with an archery bow, one or more of the foregoing embodiments may be used with a crossbow or a firearm such a handgun, rifle, shotgun, etc.